Yu-Gi-Oh GX: A New Beginning
by DanelerH
Summary: The familiar story at Duel Academy, but with some additional characters. Not much else to say about it. Enjoy.


**AN: This is more or less a re-write of the canon story, but I retain the right to change/add things to the plot. Some things that I'm adding are OCs, the first of which will be introduced this chapter. This story will use some fan-created cards, as well as some existing cards with changes made to them. This will usually only be applied to Synchro, Xyz, Tuners, and their respective support. I have decided to make Duel Academy into a college, since that made more sense than a High School to me. The last change that I'm making right now has to do with the duels. The duels are going to follow the rules in real life, which means: players will have 8000 Life Points (16000 in tag duels); players cannot draw on the first turn; players cannot normal summon in Defense mode. This is my first story, so please let me know if I've made any mistakes. Enjoy the story.**

* * *

In the streets of Domino City, a young man with brown hair, a red shirt, and a gray jacket with matching pants was running towards his destination. "Ah, crap. Why did the train have to be late?" he asked to nobody in particular. If he had been paying attention, however, he would have seen that he was about to run into someone with spiky yellow, black, and magenta hair, a black, sleeveless shirt, and blue jeans. Though Jaden fell, the other man managed to hold his ground, turning to see who had run into him. "Sorry about that," Jaden apologized. "I was in a hurry and didn't see you."

The man noticed Jaden's duel disk and deck. "Do you duel?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm going to take a test for Duel Academy. Hey, wait a second. Aren't you Yugi Moto, the King of Games?"

Yugi smiled and pulled out a card. "This is a lucky card. It wants to go with you."

"Thank you..."

"Do your best." Yugi said as he walked away.

"Yes. Thank you very much!" Jaden looked at the card. When he did so, a creature that looked like the Winged Kuriboh card he had just received appeared. It looked like a brown furball (and Jaden's hair) with green paws and white wings.

Jaden, having known about duel spirits, smiled before realized that he was still late. "Ah, crap!" He started running again.

Meanwhile, at the entrance exams, a young man with short, blond hair, a red t-shirt, black jacket, and blue jeans was about to duel an exam proctor.

"Please state your name and number, Applicant," the proctor requested.

"Examinee Number 4: Haruo Yamada, sir," Haruo replied.

"Alright, I'll keep the rules nice and simple: You win, you're in. You lose, you're out. Normally, we decide who goes first via a coin toss, however, for the purpose of these exams, the applicant gets to decide."

"Very well, then. I would like to go second."

"Duel!" they both shouted.

Haruo (8000) x5 || Proctor (8000) x5

"Let us begin," the proctor said as he selected a card from his hand. A card with a nest of baby birds in a crown appeared. "I'll start my turn by playing the Continuous Spell card Burden of the Mighty. This card lowers your monsters' strength by 100 times their level. I'll set a monster, along with one other card. It's your move," the proctor concluded as the two set cards appeared.

Haruo (8000) x5 || Proctor (8000) x2

"My move, then." Haruo drew his card. "First, I'll summon my Harpie Channeler ( **1400-1000** /1300)." A red-haired girl with a white ribbon in her hair (which also looked like a ribbon) appeared. She wore a white dress and white leggings. She had black wings, a chain with a collar in her left hand, and a staff in her right. "I'll also activate the field spell, Harpies' Hunting Ground." The dueling arena around them vanished, being replaced by a dark, desert-looking area. "This field gives all Winged-Beast-Type monsters 200 ATK and DEF points [Harpie Channeler ( **1000-1200** /1300-1500)]."

The proctor wasn't impressed. "200 ATK isn't much of a difference. It's still only 1200."

"For now, but I'll get to that later. For my next move, I'm going to use my Channeler's effect. By discarding one 'Harpie' card, like my Harpie Lady 1, I can Special Summon a 'Harpie' monster from my deck. I'll summon Harpie Harpist ( **1700-1300-1500** /600-800)." As Haruo discarded his card, Harpie Channeler held her staff in front of her as it started to glow, creating a purple seal behind her. Coming through the seal was another winged lady. She had red hair, green wings, and black bodysuit. As her name would suggest, she had a harp in her hands. "When on the field, Harpie Harpist is treated as 'Harpie Lady', which triggers the second effect of my Hunting Ground. When a 'Harpie Lady' is summoned, I can destroy one spell or trap on the field. I think I'll destroy your set card." Harpie Harpist swiftly flew forward and slashed through the proctor's Mirror Force.

The proctor growled, but was confused. "Wait, if I recall correctly, Harpie Channeler shares that same effect. Why didn't you activate Hunting Ground first? You could have also destroyed my Burden of the Mighty."

"Like I said, I'll get to that later. I've still got a couple more cards to play before you see. Here's the first of them. It's the Continuous Spell, Hysteric Fusion." A card depicting Harpie Channeler leading a red dragon into a seal that looked similar to the one Harpie Harpist came out of. "This card lets me use 'Harpie' monsters on my side of the field as fusion material for a 'Harpie', WIND, or Winged-Beast-Type Fusion Monster once per turn, so I'm fusing my Harpie Channeler with my Harpie Harpist. Fusion Summon!" When two aforementioned monsters walked into another seal that appeared, another Harpie flew out. This Harpie had yellow-green hair and wings, a blue dress, and a green cloth fluttering to her side. "Meet Harpie Dirae ( **2000-1400-1600** /1800-2000). Like Harpies Channeler and Harpist, she's also treated as 'Harpie Lady' while on the field. This triggers Hunting Ground once again." Just like Harpie Harpist, Harpie Dirae swiftly flew forward, slashing through Burden of the Mighty [Harpie Dirae ( **1600-2200** /2000)].

Now the proctor was impressed. "I see. It was because you didn't want to destroy one of your own cards that you waited to activate Hunting Ground. Not bad, Applicant."

"Thank you, but I'm not done yet. Harpie Dirae, attack his set monster with Cyber Strike!" Harpie Dirae once again flew forward, slashing through the proctor's set monster, revealing what looked to be a pumpkin with eyes, a pink bow, and a crown.

"I activate the effect of Pumprincess the Princess of Ghosts! When it's destroyed while face-up, it gets sent to my Spell/Trap Zone as a Continuous Spell," the proctor explained as he moved Pumprincess' card to the aforementioned zone. "In case you're wondering, I'm still able to activate its effect since it wasn't required for it to be attacked while face-up and was flipped face-up during the attack."

"Yes, I know how it works. I'll set two cards and end my turn." A melody that sounded like a harp started playing. "Since it's my End Phase and Harpie Harpist was sent to the grave, I can add one 'Harpie' monster with 1500 or less ATK from my deck to my hand. I'm adding another Harpie Channeler to my hand. Also, since Harpie Dirae was Fusion Summoned, I can add one 'Hysteric' card from my deck to my hand." Harpie Dirae held out her hand and a rainbow appeared, connecting her hand to Haruo's deck. "I'll add Hysteric Sign to my hand."

Haruo (8000) x3 || Proctor (8000) x2

"My turn." The proctor drew his card. "Lucky me. I just drew another Burden of the Mighty. First, however, since it is now my Standby Phase, Pumprincess gets a Pumpkin Counter [Pumprincess (C:1)]. For each counter my Pumprincess gets, your monsters lose 100 ATK and DEF [Harpie Dirae ( **2200-2100** /2000-1900)]. Now I'll activate Burden of the Mighty." The card appeared on the field once again, decreasing Dirae's ATK even further (2100-1500). "Next, I'll summon Tiger King Wanghu ( **1700** /1000)!" On the field appeared a white tiger with black stripes and spiked, silver armor. "Wanghu, attack Dirae!"

"Trap card, activate, Storming Mirror Force!" As Wanghu bounded forward, a green sphere surrounded Dirae. Wanghu crashed into it, turning into red energy. "I can activate this card when you declare an attack," Haruo explained. "It returns all Attack Position monsters to your hand." The red energy headed back towards the proctor, vanishing when it reached his hand.

The proctor frowned. "Fine. It appears that will have to end my turn."

"Then I'll activate my other trap, Hysteric Party. By discarding one card, I can Special Summon as many copies of 'Harpie Lady' as possible from my grave. Since Harpie Channeler, Harpie Harpist, and Harpie Lady 1 are all treated as 'Harpie Lady' while in the grave, I can Special Summon all of them." Haruo discarded his card. Along with the two formerly mentioned Harpies, the third Harpie that appeared had pink hair, green wings, and a purple bodysuit. "Harpie Lady 1 gives all WIND monsters an additional 300 ATK. Also, since I summoned a 'Harpie Lady', I can destroy one spell or trap card. I'm once again going with Burden of the Mighty [Harpie Channeler ( **1400-1000-900-1100-1400-1800** /1300-1200-1400)] [Harpie Harpist ( **1700-1300-1200-1400-1700-2100** /600-500-700)] [Harpie Lady 1 ( **1300-900-800-1000-1300-1700** /1400-1300-1500)] [Harpie Dirae ( **1500-1800-2400** /2000)]." A seal appeared over Haruo's graveyard. "Finally, since I discarded Hysteric Sign, I get to add up to three Harpie Cards from my deck to my hand. I'll add Harpie Channeler, Harpie Queen, and Harpie Harpist to my hand."

Haruo (8000) x5 || Proctor (8000) x3

As Haruo drew his card, the proctor stopped him. "Since it's your Standby Phase, Pumprincess' effect activates again, getting it another counter." [Pumprincess (C:2)] [Harpie Channeler ( **1800-1700** /1400-1300)] [Harpie Harpist ( **2100-2000** /700-600)] [Harpie Lady 1 ( **1700-1600** /1500-1400)] [Harpie Dirae ( **2400-2300** /1900-1800)]

Haruo didn't look worried. "That won't deter me. I summon Harpie Queen ( **1900-1700-1900-2200** /1200-1000-1200)." A more regal looking Harpie with green hair tied up in a ponytail, white wings, and a blue bodysuit appeared next to the others. "Like my other Harpies, Harpie Queen is treated as 'Harpie Lady' while on the field, so thanks to Hunting Ground, Pumprincess is getting destroyed." Harpie Queen flew forward, destroying Pumprincess. [Harpie Channeler ( **1700-1900** /1300-1500)] [Harpie Harpist ( **2000-2200** /600-800)] [Harpie Lady 1 ( **1600-1800** /1400-1600)] [Harpie Dirae ( **2300-2500** /1800-2000)] [Harpie Queen ( **2200-2400** /1200-1400)] "Now, I think it's time to end this. With Harpie Channeler, Harpie Harpist, Harpie Lady 1, Harpie Dirae, and Harpie Queen having 1900, 2200, 1800, 2500, 2400 ATK respectively, that's 10800 points of damage."

The proctor was shocked. "No way!"

"Harpie Channeler, Harpie Harpist, Harpie Lady 1, Harpie Dirae, you know what to do. Attack with Cyber Slash and Cyber Strike!" The mentioned Harpies flew forward towards the proctor, while Harpie Queen watched. As each of their attacks connected, the proctor's life points went down. [Proctor (8000-6200-4300-2100-0)]

Winner: Haruo (8000) x5 || Loser: Proctor (0) x3

"The examination duel is over. Congratulations, Applicant. Welcome to the academy."

"Thank you for the game."

Haruo turned around and started to walk towards the stands. Appearing behind him was the spirit of Harpie Queen. " _I'm all for an overwhelming victory,_ " she started, " _But don't you think that was a little overkill_?"

" _That's why I chose to not have you attack,_ " Haruo replied. " _Besides, even without your attack, summoning you was still necessary. With Pumprincess on the field, we would have been 400 points short._ "

Harpie Queen didn't have a response to that, so she disappeared while Haruo decided to sit down next to a short guy with spiked, light-blue hair, glasses, and a gray-blue uniform. They exchanged greetings and watched the last duel finish. The one dueling was a young man with black hair, a white jacket, and white pants.

Proctor (900) x0 || White-clothed Man (3200) x3

The proctor had only two monsters on the field. One of them was a muscular man with black hair, red pants, and was holding a large shield in front of him; Big Shield Gardna (100/ **2600** ). The other looked like a couple of bronze gears, a red eye, and spiked, steel shields protecting it; Gear Golem the Moving Fortress (800/ **2200** ). The white-clothed man had a set card and a muscular, yellow-skinned Beast-Warrior with a four-horned helmet, a black vest with purple gems, blue pants, and a large axe; Vorse Raider ( **1900** /1200).

The proctor drew his card and taunted his opponent. "It doesn't matter how capable you are. In the face of my Super Defense deck, you can no longer reduce my life points."

The white-clothed man didn't appear to be worried. "Since it's now your Standby Phase, I can activate the trap card, Destruction Ring! This trap destroys a monster on my side of the field, then we each take 1000 points of damage." A black and gold ring with a bomb on it appeared around Vorse Raider's neck and the fuse lit. When it reached the bomb, it blew up, taking Vorse Raider with it. [Proctor (900-0)] [White-clothed Man (2200)]

Loser: Proctor (0) x0 || Winner: White-clothed Man (2200) x3

"The examination duel is over. Congratulations. You've won."

"Thank you very much."

"Bastion Misawa, Examinee Number 1, is pretty good, isn't he?" a man with long, blue-green hair and a blue uniform asked.

"It was worth coming all this way to see him after hearing the rumors, wasn't it, Chazz?" a spiky, brown-haired man in a matching blue uniform continued.

"Nonsense," a third boy, apparently named Chazz, in a blue uniform with black, claw-shaped hair responded. "These entry exams are just set at a low level. Coming out of the academy for this was such a waste. Duel Academy doesn't need two kings, only one."

Jaden walked over to Haruo and the blue-haired boy. "He couldn't get to his opponent through battle, so he went for effect damage instead. Nice strategy!"

"Of course it was. That's Bastion Misawa, Examinee Number 1. In other words, he got first place on the written test," the blue-haired boy explained.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. As for me, I barely managed to win my duel. I'm only Number 119..."

"Don't sweat it! I'm certain you'll do fine at the academy! I'm only Number 110, after all!"

"You're an examinee, too?"

"Sure am."

"But the duels for the 100s already ended with the first group." Jaden looked panicked.

"I wouldn't worry too much about that," Haruo said. The others turned to look at him. "I've heard that the school's chancellor is very forgiving. They'll most likely still give you a chance. I'm Haruo Yamada, by the way."

"Syrus Truesdale," the blue-haired boy said.

"I'm Jaden Yuki."

Meanwhile, the exam proctors were discussing the new students with a man(?) in a blue uniform with pink frills and long, blond hair tied in a ponytail.

"We don't even need to deliberate on Mr. Misawa. I think it's settled," one of the proctors said.

"Mm-hmm. He's the last of them."

The guy from the entrance walked up to the blond-haired man, who was apparently in charge. "Excuse me, Dr. Crowler. There's one more examinee that made it to registration at the last minute..."

"What was he ranked on the written test?"

"He's Examinee Number 110."

"He hardly has any sense of readiness if he's coming in at the last minute. We have no need for slackers in our academy."

"However, he did make it on time, to a point, so he _does_ qualify for the exam," one of the proctors pointed out.

"And a train incident is to blame, anyway..." a second continued.

"Not letting him take it might not be a good idea, don't you think?" a third proctor finished.

Suddenly, Dr. Crowler's phone began to ring. "Yes? Who may I ask is speaking? Oh, it's you, Mr. Chancellor!"

"I heard that there's an examinee who made it in time for the test at the last minute due to a train incident." Crowler was surprised that he had heard so fast. "He may have done poorly on his written exam, but don't deprive him of his chance. Our school's objective is to garner a wide range of talents to train them into well-rounded duelists, after all." The chancellor hung of the phone.

"Such sharp ears..." Crowler murmured. "You sly old dog..." ' _Duel Academy is an academy for the Dueling Elite! Why is Chancellor Shepherd backing that slacker?_ ' "I will be dueling that examinee!"

"P-Please wait!" one of the proctors tried to tell him. "Dr. Crowler, please take an examination deck."

"I have no need for one of those! I have just the deck in mind to face him with!"

During this time, Bastion had made his way over to the stands, sitting next to Haruo.

"You're one tough customer," Jaden complimented.

"I guess," Bastion replied.

"You may be the second strongest out of this year's examinees." Bastion and Syrus looked surprised. Haruo just raised an eyebrow.

"Examine Number 110: Jaden Yuki..." someone called over the intercom. "Please make your way to Dueling Field 3."

"Alright, then. I'm up."

"Hey, you." Jaden looked towards Bastion. "Why am I Number 2?"

Jaden smirked. "Because I'm Number 1."

' _Well, I guess we'll find out if he can back it up,_ ' Haruo thought.

"He only scored nine higher than me on the written test, so why is he so confident?" Syrus wondered. "Lucky guy..."

When Jaden stepped into the duel field, his Crowler was waiting for him. "Good day!" Crowler exclaimed.

Jaden stood at attention. "Examinee Number 110: Jaden Yuki, sir!"

"Mr. Yuki, I am Dr. Vellian Crowler, acting Chief General Director of Practical Application at the academy."

"What an honor. To think the Director of Practical Application would challenge _me_! I'm sure that means you're expecting a lot out of me!" Jaden was fairly certain that wasn't the case, but he felt like teasing Crowler a bit.

Crowler sweat-dropped. ' _I'm struck speechless_.'

Chazz and his cronies were shocked. "Who'd think Dr. Crowler would deal with this personally?" the blue-haired one asked.

"That Jaden fellow must be pretty big, huh?" the brown-haired one continued.

Chazz wasn't listening. ' _I can't believe this_!'

"Duel Coat, on!" Crowler exclaimed. Jaden thought it was interesting, but decided not to comment on it. ' _This slacker will never be accepted into the academy._ ' "As per the regulations, the examinee gets to decide the play order."

"Duel!" they both shouted.

Crowler (8000) x5 || Jaden (8000) x5

"I'll take the first move, then! My turn!" Jaden looked at his hand. "All right. I summon Elemental HERO Blazeman ( **1200** /1800)!" An armored monster appeared on the field. It was muscular with white skin, black leggings, an orange mask with a matching chestplate, boots, and gauntlets, and hair akin to fire. "When Blazeman is summoned, I can add Polymerization to my hand." Flames appeared around Jaden's deck as he looked for the mentioned card. "Now I'll activate Blazeman's other ability. I can send an 'Elemental HERO' monster from my deck to my grave to change Blazeman's Attribute, ATK, and DEF to the monster I sent. I'm sending Elemental HERO Necroshade to the grave." [Blazeman (FIRE-DARK/ **1200-1600** /1800)] Blazeman's armor turned black and his hair turned to look like shadows. "I'll set two cards. My turn's finished! At the end of the turn, Blazeman's changes revert to normal." Blazeman went back to his normal look. [Blazeman (DARK-FIRE/ **1600-1200** /1800)]

Crowler (8000) x5 || Jaden (8000) x3

"It's my turn." ' _A HERO deck, is it? I suppose you could say he's some kind of small town hero, then._ ' "Allow me to teach you just how broad the world is! I'll set two cards on the field. Next, I activate the Spell card, Heavy Storm! This card destroys all Spell and Trap cards on the entire field!" A large wind appeared, blowing away the four set cards.

"If that's the case, I'll chain my set card, Book of Moon. To that, I'm chaining Emergency Provisions. By sending Book of Moon to the grave, I gain 1000 Life Points. Since Book of Moon still resolves, Blazeman is flipped face-down in defense. Blazeman disappeared under a horizontal card. [Jaden (8000-9000)] This way, only your cards got mixed in it!"

"A mere 1000 more life points won't make any difference for what's about to happen!" The area around them started turning dark and cloudy. "I Special Summon the Wicked Tokens!" Appearing from the dark clouds were two gold, serpentine creatures.

The crowd was astounded. "I don't have a clue as to what happened..." Syrus said.

"Statue of the Wicked is a special trap that creates a token when destroyed," Bastion explained. "Dr. Crowler destroyed his own Statues to utilize its effect."

"On the other hand," Haruo continued, "Jaden was also able to mitigate its effect by using his sets that would have been destroyed, anyways."

Chazz's blue-haired crony then realized "That's no entry exam deck! That's Dr. Crowler's own Dark Ages deck!"

"He established his combo while simultaneously quartering off any traps that Examinee 110 may have had!" the brown-haired crony said.

"For there to be an examinee that stands a chance against that deck..."

"...is wishful thinking, right?" Apparently finishing each other's sentences is something those two do often.

Chazz chuckled. "I thought that examinee was something special, but I was sorely mistaken. Dr. Crowler plans on giving that slacker's fleeting dreams a thorough stomping on."

Further up in the stands, a blonde-haired girl wearing a white uniform with blue trim and a blue skirt looked towards the field. "I feel sorry for him. It appears that Dr. Crowler doesn't fancy him."

"This should be worth seeing," said a blue-green haired boy wearing a uniform that matched the blonde-haired girl's. "The Dark Ages deck... Thanks to Number 110 here, we might have the honor of seeing one of its legendary rare cards."

"My turn's not over as of yet!" Crowler exclaimed.

Jaden just laughed. "Sounds fun! What are you going to show me this time?"

Crowler had a look of anger on his face for a second, but Jaden didn't notice. "Next, I tribute both of my Wicked Tokens..." As he said this, his two tokens were engulfed by fire before vanishing in a golden light. "...to summon Ancient Gear Golem ( **3000** /3000)!"

The crowd was once again astounded. "That's his... legendary rare card...!" the girl said, shocked.

Appearing out of a golden light was a giant, grey, humanoid robot with several exposed gears all over its body. "Awesome!" Jaden exclaimed. "The rumors told me about this thing."

"An eight star monster out of the blue like that!" Syrus exclaimed.

"Dr. Crowler has yet to lose once he's summoned that card," the blue-green haired boy said. "I wouldn't have pegged that examinee to have the power to make him take this seriously."

"Dr. Crowler _is_ rather fickle, you know," the girl sighed. "It's a shame. I caught the sound of Duel Academy's iron doors closing shut."

Crowler laughed manically. "Here I go! Ultimate Pound!" Ancient Gear Golem's gears started spinning rapidly as it punched the set Blazeman.

"Ancient Gear Golem's ATK is 3000, while Blazeman's DEF is only 1800!" Syrus looked panicked. "It didn't stand a chance!"

"And that's not the half of it," Bastion explained. "When that monster attacks a monster in Defense mode, and its ATK is higher than that card's DEF, its effect allows it do deal the difference as damage to the opponent."

"Maybe so," Haruo said, "but thanks to Jaden's Book of Moon, that damage was reduced from 1800 to 1200 since it would have otherwise been Attack mode."

[Jaden (9000-7800)] Crowler laughed. "Already lost your fighting spirit, have you?"

Jaden started chuckling. "I'm really touched that the General Directing Professor is dueling his hardest against me!"

' _What?_ ' Crowler was surprised. ' _Just how mistaken is he? I never intended on letting a slacker like you go through the gates of the prestigious Duel Academy_!'

Crowler (8000) x2 || Jaden (7800) x3

' _This is where my true power will be put to the test!_ ' Jaden though, excited. "My turn!" Jaden drew his card. "Since I have no face-up monsters on the field, I can activate the Spell card A Hero Lives!" A card with a brown and green hero facing off against a brown dinosaur appeared on the field. "By paying half my Life Points, I can summon an Elemental HERO from my deck. I summon Elemental HERO Shadow Mist in Defense mode! [Jaden (7800-3900)]" A female hero now stood on Jaden's field. She had long, black hair, black armor, a silver mask, and cloth blowing around her legs. [Shadow Mist (1000/ **1500** )]

"3900 Life Points for a monster that stands no chance against my Golem?" Crowler criticized. "You may have played it in Defense mode, but it will not stave off my Ancient Gear Golem's piercing effect!"

"I know that," Jaden said as shadows appeared around his duel disk. "But who said I was done? Elemental HERO Shadow Mist has an effect. When she's Special Summoned, I can add a 'Change' Quick-Play Spell from my deck to my hand. I'm adding the Spell card Form Change! Next, I'm playing Polymerization. This allows me to fuse Shadow Mist on my field with Elemental HERO Bubbleman in my hand. Fusion Summon!" Appearing on the field with Shadow Mist was a hero clothed in light-blue armor over his dark-blue skin. The two heroes turned into particles that started swirling together. Formed out of the particles was another dark-blue-skinned hero, but this one was clothed in white with spiked shoulder pads and a cape. "Elemental HERO Absolute Zero!" ( **2500** /2000)

"Cool!" Syrus exclaimed.

"Absolute Zero can only be summoned through a Fusion Summon," Bastion explained. "When it leaves the field, it destroys all monsters on the opponent's field. Dr. Crowler's going to have to be very careful when dealing with this."

"I don't think he'll have a chance to," Haruo replied. "Since Jaden added Form Change, he's done yet."

"Allow me to give you a special lecture," Crowler started. "Listen up. Your worthless tripe is useless in a duel! Make sure to keep that in mind. You may have Fusion Summoned, but its ATK is only a mere 2500. It comes well short of my Ancient Gear Golem!"

"Then I'm going to teach you something, Dr. Crowler. There's more than one type of hero! I activate the other card I added, Form Change!" Jaden activated a card with a humanoid figure engulfed in yellow light breaking out of dark-purple armor. "With this card, I can return a 'HERO' Fusion monster I control to the Extra Deck, then I can Special Summon a 'Masked HERO' monster with the same original level, but a different name. Transformation Summon! Masked HERO Koga!" Like on the card, a yellow light engulfed Absolute Zero as his armor broke off. When the light faded, another hero was in his place. This one had white skin and spiked golden armor with blades on his arms. ( **2500** /1800)

"Once again, it's just another monster with 2500 ATK. Just like your Absolute Zero, it doesn't stand a chance against my Gol-... What's happening to my Golem!?" Crowler was panicking. As he was speaking, Ancient Gear Golem was being covered in ice.

"What's happening is my Absolute Zero's ability," Jaden explained. "When he's removed from the field in any way, all of your monsters are destroyed! In this case, he was returned to my Extra Deck through Form Change, so you Golem is destroyed!" When he finished saying this, Ancient Gear Golem, which now looked like a giant ice sculpture, shattered.

"Who'd think there was a card Dr. Crowler didn't know about?" the girl asked, shocked.

"There are some places that not even Dr. Crowler can reach," the blue-green haired boy explained. "The dueling world is boundless."

"And that's why it's so interesting," the girl replied with a smile on her face.

"Now that your Life Points are open, Koga can deal a direct attack! Go, Masked HERO Koga! Shining Blade!" Koga leapt forward and sliced through Crowler, dealing a ton of damage. [Crowler (8000-5500)]

Crowler (5500) x2 || Jaden (3900) x1

Crowler was furious. ' _No! I will not allow this slacker to make a fool out of me!_ ' "It's my turn!" Crowler angrily drew his card. "First, I'm playing the spell Pot of Greed!" A green pot with blue designs and a creepy face appeared in front of Crowler. "This allows me to draw two cards!" ' _Perfect!_ ' "Next, I activate the Field Spell, Geartown!" A huge city with gear-shaped buildings formed around them. "Now I'll activate Mystical Space Typhoon! This card destroys one spell or trap on the field! Since there's only one, I'm destroying my Geartown!" As quickly as the town appeared, it was destroyed just as quickly by a large gust of wind, leaving behind only a pile of rubble. "When Geartown is destroyed, I'm allowed to Special Summon an Ancient Gear monster from my deck, so come forth Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon!" From the leftover pile of rubble, a grey dragon looking similar in size and color to Ancient Gear Golem was formed. Like Ancient Gear Golem, this one also had gears exposed all around its body. ( **3000** /2000)

The crowd was shocked to see another of Crowler's legendary monsters, but were even more shocked when Koga's ATK went up to match it. [Koga (2500-3000)] "Since you control a monster, Masked HERO Koga gains an additional 500 ATK points," Jaden smirked.

Crowler growled. "It matters not! I summon Heavy Mech Support Platform!" A grey ship that almost looked like a giant pair of pliers with red wings and an engine appeared and attached itself to Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon. ( **500** /500) "Once per turn, I can equip my Heavy Mech Support Platform to a Machine-Type monster I control, then that monster gains 500 ATK and DEF! [Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon ( **3000-3500** /2000-2500)] Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon, attack! Ultimate Slash!" Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon flew towards Koga before being engulfed in a flash of light.

"Sorry, Dr. Crowler," Jaden said, "but Koga has an ability, too. By banishing a 'HERO' monster from my grave, I can lower one of your monster's ATK by the ATK of my banished monster. Since I'm banishing Shadow Mist, your Gadjiltron Dragon loses 1000 ATK!"

Crowler was horrified when he realized that he didn't consider that Koga might have an ability, but he didn't allow himself to be frozen for long. "I chain the Quick-Play Spell, Limiter Removal! This card doubles my Gadjiltron Dragon's ATK before you reduce it!" As the gears in Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon started spinning faster, its ATK went up. [Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon ( **3500-7000-6000** /2500)] The strengthened and weakened dragon continued to fly towards Koga. Koga tried to counter-attack, but found himself unable to as Limiter Removal strengthened Gadjiltron Dragon too much. [Jaden (3900-900)] "I end my turn. Now, Limiter Removal destroys every machine monster on my field, however, by destroying my Heavy Mech Support Platform, Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon is spared from destruction!" [Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon ( **6000-3000** /2500-2000)]

Crowler (5500) x0 || Jaden (900) x1

Jaden was still smiling, though, as he drew his card. "This is a lot of fun! Now, it's my turn! I think I'll activate a card you're familiar with, Pot of Greed!" The same creepy pot appeared in front of Jaden as he drew two cards and played one of them. "I summon Elemental HERO Bladedge!" A larger looking hero appeared, this one fully coated in orange armor. As his name would suggest, his arms had large blades on them. ( **2600** /1800)

"Okay, I'm lost again," Syrus complained. "How did Jaden just summon a seven star monster without a tribute?"

"Elemental HERO Necroshade is a monster whose effect activates in the grave," Bastion explained. "While it's in the grave, its controller can summon an 'Elemental HERO' monster without a tribute, but only once."

"But even so, Bladedge's ATK is 2600, falling short of Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon's ATK."

"Yeah, but if he's really Number 1, he'll figure something out."

"I'm sure he will," Haruo said. "There are a couple of cards that can be used to make Bladedge stronger, but there are more options that just that."

Despite the power difference, Jaden's smile never left his face. "Now that I control a 'HERO' monster, I can activate the Quick-Play Spell, Mask Change!" A card with an image of a red, sprinting hero with a light obscuring his face appeared. "This card lets me send a 'HERO' monster I control the grave so that I can summon a 'Masked HERO' of the same Attribute from my Extra Deck. Bladedge is an EARTH Attribute monster, so I can summon and EARTH Attribute 'Masked HERO'. Transformation Summon! Masked HERO Dian!" A silver mask appeared in front of Bladedge, which he promptly took and put on. After a flash of light, a hero coated in diamond-studded silver armor with a matching silver lance and a blue cape appeared in Bladedge's place. ( **2800** /3000)

Though the audience was surprised to see another Transformation Summon, they were even more surprised to see that Jaden had summoned Dian in Attack mode, rather than Defense mode, despite its DEF being the same as Gadjiltron Dragon's ATK. Crowler was not impressed. "Allow me to give you another special lecture," Crowler started again. "Despite the Transformation Summon, its ATK is only a mere 2800. Also, I'm well aware of this one's effect, and it in no way will allow you to destroy my Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon!"

Jaden was still smiling. "Then allow me to teach _you_ another thing. Even a hero needs help, sometimes, but we'll get to that in a minute." Dian, attack Gadjiltron Dragon! Calling Lance!" Dian dashed towards Gadjiltron Dragon, leaping up at it.

Crowler was smirking. "You must be joking! Dian's ATK doesn't hold a candle to Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon!"

"A hero always wins! I activate the Quick-Play Spell, Ego Boost! I can only activate this when a monster declares an attack. It allows me to increase the ATK of one monster on the field!" Dian was surrounded by a yellow glow that looked like her silhouette, similar to the card, which displayed a small monster with a much larger silhouette of it around it. [Masked HERO Dian ( **2800-3800** /3000)]

Crowler was shocked and panicked. "Oh, my God!" When Dian reached Gadjiltron Dragon, she took her lance and stabbed through the mechanical dragon, shattering it. [Crowler (5500-4700)] "My Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon...!"

"And, remember that help that I mentioned? That wasn't just referring to Ego Boost. When Masked HERO Dian destroys a monster, she can summon a friend from my deck, so I'm choosing Elemental HERO Voltic." Appearing in a flash behind Dian was a blue-armored hero with silver guards ( **1000** /1500). "Without your Gadjiltron Dragon standing in its way, Voltic can go in for a direct attack! Static Spark!" Voltic spread his hands apart as lighting crackled between them. He fired it at Crowler, putting another dent in his Life Points. [Crowler (4700-3700)] "Voltic can also call a friend. When he inflicts damage, I can Special Summon a banished 'Elemental HERO', so come on back Shadow Mist!" Lightning crackled around the field as the DARK heroine appeared once again ( **1000** /1500). With Shadow Mist's appearance came more shadows around Jaden's duel disk. "Since Shadow Mist was Special Summoned, I can add Mask Change from my deck to my hand. Just like Voltic, Shadow Mist can also attack! Shadow Strike!" Shadow Mist ran forwards, kicking Crowler. [Crowler (3700-2700)] "Finally, I'll use the card I got from Shadow Mist's effect, Mask Change!" Like Bladedge before her, she put on the black mask that appeared in front of her. "Transformation Summon! Masked HERO Anki!" Appearing in Shadow Mist's place was a similar looking hero, fully armored in black with gold and red guards, as well as a gold belt with a red gem. ( **2800** /1200)

Crowler, who was still in a state of shock and panic, looked even more so when he saw Anki's ATK. "What...!?"

"Now, Masked HERO Anki, direct attack! Dark Chaos!" For the last time, Jaden's hero ran across the field, shadow engulfing his fist and punched Crowler, knocking him on his back. [Crowler (2700-0)]

Loser: Crowler (0) x0 || Winner: Jaden (900) x0

"Gotcha!" Jaden exclaimed, while doing a two-fingered salute. "That sure was a fun duel, Professor!"

"How?" Crowler muttered angrily. "How was I beaten by that slacker...?"

Chazz and his cronies had their mouths open in shock. "I can't believe Dr. Crowler was beaten by an examinee...!" Chazz exclaimed.

The blonde-haired girl smiled. "He's pretty interesting, isn't he?" Her blue-green-haired companion just walked off in response, his face expressionless.

"Way to go, Number 110!" Syrus shouted.

' _You might turn out to be a fine rival, Number 1..._ ' Bastion thought.

"Good job, Jaden," Haruo applauded.

Jaden looked at his Winged Kuriboh card. ' _It's a shame I didn't get to use you this time, but maybe next time. Okay?_ ' Winged Kuriboh appeared and nodded, excited, as Jaden walked back up to the stands.

* * *

 **Fan-Created Cards:**

 **Hysteric Fusion**

 **Continuous Spell Send, from your side of the field to the Graveyard, the Fusion Material Monsters that are listed on a "Harpie", WIND, or Winged-Beast-Type Fusion Monster Card, then Special Summon that Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck. (This Special Summon is treated as a Fusion Summon.) During the End Phase of the turn this card was sent from the field or hand to the Graveyard: You can activate 1 of these effects;**  
 **● Add 1 "Elegant Egotist" from your Deck or Graveyard to your hand.**  
 **● Add 1 "Harpie" card from your Deck or Graveyard to your hand.**  
 **● Add 1 "Hysteric" card from your Deck or Graveyard to your hand, except for "Hysteric Fusion".**  
 **You can only use each effect of "Hysteric Fusion" once per turn.**

 **Harpie Dirae (6 star/WIND/2000/1800/Winged-Beast/Fusion)**

 **"Harpie Lady" + "Harpie Lady"**  
 **If this card is Fusion Summoned, once per turn, during your End Phase: You can add 1 "Hysteric" card from your deck to your hand. This effect can only be used twice while it is face-up on the field. This card's name becomes "Harpie Lady" while on the field or in the Graveyard.**

 **Harpie Dirae was created by Harpie King, a YouTuber. I highly recommend you check out his channel. He mixes Harpies with various other cards/archetypes. A personal favorite of mine is his Harpie Dyson Sphere video.**

 **Thank you for reading my story. I hope you enjoyed it. If you liked it, leave a review. If you didn't, leave a review anyways to tell me what you think I did wrong. There may also be a few inconsistencies that I missed. Let me know if you see any. I'll (hopefully) have the next chapter up soon, so keep an eye out for that. See you next time.**

 **If you're still reading, mind answering a question for me? Currently, I have monsters' stat changes applied individually. For example while Harpies' Hunting Ground and Harpie Lady 1 are on the field, Harpie Channeler's stat changes would be (1400-1600-1900/1300-1500). The problem with this is that some of these can get pretty long. Do you think I should keep it this way or apply them all at once? The same scenario would instead be (1400-1900/1300-1500). Thank you for your feedback.**


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